Severed penis sewn back

In a rare seven-hour-long surgery, doctors successfully sew back the severed organ that was chopped off after a fight, reports Vidya Krishnan.

A rare surgical procedure has helped a castrated man regain a normal life after his severed penis was reattached in a seven-hour long operation in a private hospital.

This, according to the hospital, is the first case of successful re-plantation of an amputated penis in the capital.

The patient, Munna (name changed), came to the city six hours after being "bobbittised". "I was beaten up by my enemies and they chopped my penis off. When I went to a local hospital, the doctor told me to go back to the place where I was attacked and get the severed part. He then referred me to Delhi," he said.

Munna reached Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SRGH) and was immediately transferred to the operation theatre for microsurgical reattachment of the amputated penis. "The patient came to us six hours after being amputated, the severed part was preserved in a ice bag. Sutures were made in the stumped and severed part and both were sewn together. Since the blood vessels and nerves are very small, the surgery is complex and its success depends heavily of the doctors' accuracy. It took us seven hours to complete the surgery and the patient can have a normal life," said Dr RK Khazanchi, head of the hospital’s plastic surgery department.

Doctors maintain that successful reattachment of amputated parts can only take place when severed parts are properly preserved and brought to the doctors. "In accidents or in case of assault, if a body part gets severed, it should be immediately put in a plastic bag and the bag placed in an ice bag. The storage should be such that the severed part does not come in direct contact with the ice. In 90 per cent cases, amputated parts can be successfully replanted if they are properly stored," said Dr Aditya Aggarwal, who was a part of the team that operated on Munna.